NEWS

"They can party like the rest of us when they have to" - Paper Review

Shona Murray was joined by editor of the Irish edition of The Times Richie Oakley for a look at the Bank Holiday Monday papers.

They kicked off with a story about the appearance of The Beatles on streaming sites last week. It seems the most popular song so far is Come Together, which has been played 1.8 million times - a statistic that provoked some discussion about the quality of that particular hit.

A number of newspapers - tabloids and broadsheets alike - lead with the most recent death on Irish roads, one of several fatal accidents over the Christmas period.

The Irish Independent, meanwhile, pays tribute to the Political Editor of the Belfast Telegraph Liam Clarke, who passed away suddenly.

Richie highlighted the news that Minister Richard Bruton is making efforts to ban expiry dates on gift cards ahead of next Christmas.

"I don't know what it is about vouchers," Richie said. "If you hand someone cash, they're going to go and spend it. Vouchers, people just put them away.

"They're great presents for aunts and uncles to buy - they mightn't know what their nephews and nieces want".

Shona, meanwhile, mentioned the story in the Irish Daily Star that reports €6,200 was spent in the Dáil Bar after Michael Noonan's Budget speech earlier this year.

"On Budget night obviously it's going to be much busier," Richard observed. "[But] it is a good bit of drinking, fair play to them. It goes to show they can party like the rest of us when they have to".

For more on these stories and more, you can listen back to the full paper review below: